Stronger Than Hate
by BleedingHeartTragedy
Summary: James was discovered half way through their freshman year. But when James comes back for their senior year to find the world he once knew in ruins. What's worse is that Kendall hates him. What happened while he was away and can he fix it? Kames/Cargan
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notes: **Alright, so for those of you that checked out the first chapter of my first BTR published fanfic, and actually read the author's notes, you'll have noticed that I said I don't like to work on one story at a time. And here's the proof. Also, I have a huge collection of half worked on BTR pieces that I've been dying to share with all of you so there could be several in the works at once. But the other reason why I wanted to get this story out there is probably because this is one of the ones I've been working on for the longest amount of time and because it doesn't hold as serious of a nature as The Taste of Water. I wanted to put this out there and kind of get a feeling for what you guys prefer so enjoy. Oh, and click that review button down there.

* * *

**Almost Three Years Ago…**

* * *

James stood there, once more wringing his hands together. His eyes were scanning the large crowd, searching desperately for a body that would be barreling through the mass at full speed to reach him. He began to worry his bottom lip between his teeth as he would push up onto his toes every now and then trying to see over the mass of people.

"James, you can't wait any longer…you'll miss your flight," Logan said, speaking up from the side of him.

Daring to take his eyes away from the entrance to the airport, he looked over at his shorter friend, the look in his eyes consumed with desperation like he was trying to ask his genius friend to find a way to freeze time.

"No, I-I can't. He wouldn't let me leave without saying goodbye. …He'll be here," James said, although his voice rattled and shook, and it seemed as if he was trying harder to convince himself than anything.

A hand from the other side touched his shoulder and the pretty boy jumped slightly a look of excitement and relief beginning to stretch across his face, but when he realized it was just the other friend that had shown for his departure, the look instantly fell.

"Kendall's not coming James," Carlos told him, his face, in one of its rare calm moments, expressing sympathy for one of his best friend's.

James looked at Carlos and then back over at Logan, both of whom had mirrored looks of disdain for their friend, and his chest heaved with a big sigh. They were right. Kendall wasn't coming to see him off. One of the biggest things to ever happen to him and one of his best friend's was a no show. With a sigh he gave each one another hug before heading for the security gates, pulling out his ticket and I.D. from his back pocket, looking over his shoulder every other step he took.

Carlos and Logan were standing there, watching him, both of them giving him a small wave and an encouraging smile even though they both knew that James wasn't looking back for them. But no matter how slow James made his pace, Kendall never came.

Two cities over and across town at the closed ice rink – it didn't open until noon on Sundays – a single person was inside. The blonde had lined pucks up along the center line yet again since he had been there before gliding across the ice to the first one he had set down. Bringing the hockey stick down, his eyes looked at the goal and then down before raising his arms and slapping the puck towards its intended target.

Kendall repeated this process again and again, each slap shot more vicious than the last. He was coming up on the last few when a voice from the stands grabbed his attention. "Where are your friends?"

Halting in his tracks, spraying a thin sheet of ice into the air, Kendall's eyes fell on the man, the owner of the ice rink. At first a wave of panic swept through him, thinking that he was going to get in trouble for sneaking into the ice rink, despite the fact that he, Carlos, James, and Logan had been doing it for years and they had never gotten caught before.

The owner, Buddha Bob as he had been nicknamed, noticed the slight flicker of fear in the boy's eyes and chuckled as he stood. "I've known about the four of you sneaking in here since you started," he said as he made his way down to the wall that encompassed the ice, "if I really cared I would have busted you for it a long time ago. But I've never seen four boys love the ice as much as you did. …Which brings me back to my question Kendall: where are your friends?"

Now that he knew he wasn't going to get into trouble, Kendall had been able to relax, yet as the mention of his friends came about again, he noticeably tensed up again and turned back to the remaining pucks on the ice. "Airport," he grunted sourly before bringing his stick down and making an almost sickening crack ring out through the arena as he slapped the puck towards the goal.

"Ah," Buddha Bob said, "bidding James good bye; I heard about his spontaneous discovery. Why aren't you there?"

As he got to the last puck, Kendall looked over at the man, his eyes narrowed, and his lips tightened. Anyone would have read that look at pure anger and hatred, but Buddha Bob knew that the fueling emotion behind that look was hurt. However, he said nothing as the teenager turned back and lined up the last shot, turning away as the loudest connecting crack yet sounded.

* * *

**Present**

* * *

It was the car that caught the attention first of students littered around the school. Now, nice cars weren't anomalies to the people of the small Minnesota town, but for a sleek, obnoxiously red, Lamborghini to pull into the parking lot of the high school was definitely not something they saw every day. Nobody had seen the car around town before today and they were all curious as to who could possibly be behind the wheel of that car. In ten minutes, the entire school would know exactly who it was.

James, however, was more concerned with the reception of his friends than the reception of the entire school as he climbed out of the car that his parents had given him to apologize for missing his sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth birthdays. In fact, he wasn't sure how the other kids would react, because while in the time he had been away, his name had blown up all over the country, these were still the people he grew up around his whole life.

He was used to being bombarded by a rush of fans, but instead, here, at home, they just stared. Everyone was just staring at the boy that had climbed out of the car shouldering a back pack, and it seemed that at the same time, all of the spectators went into action to inform whoever it was beside them or in their contacts list on their phone that James Diamond was back.

Ignoring all of the stares, James began heading to the building, shooting smiles every now and then towards a few people he recognized. As much as the confident James Diamond hated to admit it, he was a bit nervous about his first day back at school. He hadn't seen any of these people since he had left, much less spoken to them. …Well, there were a select few that he tried to keep in touch with; three to be exact. Carlos wasn't as good at Logan about checking his email so they stopped talking sooner than he and Logan, but in his last few months in L.A. he had only heard from Logan once and even then it had been a short email. Kendall never responded to anything that James had sent him, but he tried, at least once a month since he had left, to get a hold of him, because what worried him was that too quickly in both Carlos and Logan's replies did they stop mentioning the blonde. He didn't understand. Did Kendall really hate him that much that he wouldn't even allow their best friends to talk about him to James? Well, whatever the reason was, now that he was back, James was determined to find out.

Trying his best to remember the halls of the school, James was barely on time to his first class of the day: Senior Seminar. And as he stepped into the classroom, he was surprised to find the two of the very people he had been dying to see since he returned. However, what perturbed him the most was that they weren't together.

Logan was off in a seat by the window, his nose buried in a book, while Carlos was in the back of the room sitting on top of a desk with a few other guys around him as he animatedly told some story. The class had been a tad obnoxious with all of the students reuniting after a summer away, but two things silenced them. The first was the bell, and the second was that they noticed the familiar body standing in the doorway.

James offered all of them a dazzling smile as his eyes darted back and forth between the two boys that he had once called his best friends, both of whom seemed frozen in place. So this wasn't going to be as warm of a welcome as he had desired.

He cleared his throat, ready to speak in an attempt to break the awkward silence that had been created by his classmates, but before he could get out the "hey guys," he had wanted to start with, the sound of laughter floated behind him and he turned and looked over his shoulder just as a brunette bumped into his shoulder as the two boys split to walk around James.

"Mr. Knight, Mr. Zevon," the teacher addressed curtly and rather sarcastically, "how nice of you to make it to your first class of the school year on time."

"Not a problem Miss C.," Dak said as he and Kendall dropped into two seats at the back of the room still laughing about whatever they had been conversing about before they had entered the room.

Miss Collins rolled her eyes and began to turn back to the board when she noticed that James was still standing in the doorway. "Are you going to take a seat Mr. …," she hesitated slightly as she looked at the boy for the second, trying to recognize him from a class he may have previously had with her, however, when she realized who was standing in front of her the realization dawned on her face. "James Diamond," she breathed slightly, it almost sounded like a whisper as if she couldn't believe that he was there.

But James found it more amusing how the woman ran a hand through her hair and smoothed out her skirt. She may have been a teacher, but it seemed she was a fan, and considering James didn't recognize her, he figured that she had joined the staff after he had left. Simply sending her a charming smile, he headed for the last empty seat in the class and settled down, his eyes looking to the three friends. It seemed as if they were each sitting in different areas of the room, away from the other, and to his dismay, every single one of them seemed intent on keeping their eyes ahead or down, anywhere but him.

James tried desperately to pay attention to what the teacher was rattling off about, but his mind was still reeling from the fact that he had yet to be greeted by any of the people he once called his best friends. It hadn't even been three years; had everything really managed to fall apart just because he left? This consumed his thought process for the entire class period as the teacher explained to them their senior project.

The time had flown by and the next thing that James knew the bell was ringing and the teacher was calling out to remind them to have an idea for an author they wanted to focus on and that she would be randomly assigning partners tomorrow. He hurriedly got out of his seat and tried to make an instant beeline for one of his former best friends, but it seemed as if every female in the class had a different idea as he was suddenly bombarded by their attention. Most of them were girls that he had grown up just down the street from, but it seemed a three year absence and fame no longer made him the boy next door. And while this was always the attention he had wanted from his music and good looks, the disappearance of the people he was most desperate to talk to made it bittersweet.

James next couple of classes dragged on. Only one of them he shared and that was Carlos in his Algebra class and he had managed to arrive late to that class – being flocked by fan girls and all – to get a chance to take a seat by his old friend. He didn't expect to have any classes with Logan as he was undoubtedly in all AP classes. But there was still the chance that he would run into Kendall or Carlos after lunch, and they would all be forced to be in the same lunch as it was specifically for seniors. However, when he arrived in the cafeteria James was once more perturbed by his friends.

The only comfort from his three friends that he saw was that at least Kendall and Carlos still sat at the same lunch table, albeit opposite ends, but it was a start. Their table was filled with what James suspected to be the hockey team, along with a few of their scattered girlfriends. Whatever the case was, he knew he wasn't going to be able to wedge his way in there just yet. Logan, though, sat alone at a table in the corner by the window. His sack lunch sat off to the side, the food pulled out, ready to eat, but the brunette sat with his nose buried in his book.

Once the pop star grabbed a tray of food, and politely declined the several choruses of girls offering him a seat, he stalked to the empty table that was occupied only by Logan. Swallowing, James dropped onto the bench across from him. Apparently, the movement of someone joining him pulled Logan's interest away from his textbook.

"Hey," James said before Logan could speak, although he didn't figure it would happen considering the baffled look on his friend's face.

Logan's mouth gaped open for a second before actually forming any sound, "h-hey there James," he said awkwardly.

James gave a small chuckle as he cracked open the seal on the bottle of his ice tea. "Please do not tell me that you, of all people, are going to act like a star struck fan."

"Pff, no, not at all, never," Logan bumbled as he set his book onto the table and began to finger the edges of the corner. He sighed and then brought his eyes up to settle on James. "I mean, no. I'm just surprised. People don't sit with me. Especially not people that could sit at any table they wanted. I mean, c'mon, you're James Diamond, platinum recording artist and teenage heartthrob."

He rolled his eyes. "Really, Logan? When did I stop being just James to you?" However, looked at the bemused look on the nerd's face he narrowed his eyes playfully, "you're messing with me aren't you?"

Logan chuckled and nodded as he snatched up his apple. "Of course I am. You're James Diamond, the pretty boy who got shoved into the arena glass during freshman hockey tryouts because he was too busy staring at his own reflection."

This caused James to laugh. "I thought we weren't ever going to talk about that." But still, this was nice. It almost felt normal. This was an inkling of the reception he had expected from his friends upon his return. Not the cold shoulder that he had been receiving from most of them.

As the two of them sat there and talked, James tried to gingerly nudge the topic towards Kendall or Carlos, but it seemed as if Logan had been suspecting that and he cleverly dodged the questions by constantly asking James about things in L.A. and if it was true he had dated Aubrey Stewart. The list never ended. Eventually, James just got frustrated and bombarded Logan with the question.

"Why don't Kendall and Carlos sit with you anymore?"

But of course, Logan was given the courtesy of being saved by the bell and he rushed a quick "see you later," to James before darting from the lunch room as fast as he could leaving behind a frustrated James.

And unfortunately for him, the next few classes didn't give him one of his other friends to sort out the details. Just more fan girls.

For James, his last class of the day was physical education, unfortunately. Now, at their high school, it was mandatory to take two years of P.E., with athletes being exempt if they didn't wish to take the course. But since James had missed sophomore and junior year, and only had half of freshman year, he had to take it. Of course, he didn't really mind. James was a typically active person, but he knew that the class would be small consisting of only seniors who had waited to take their last year or of jocks who wanted another excuse not to be in class. He saw only one good thing about this when he walked into the boy's locker room: Kendall.

The blonde, though, didn't bother to acknowledge his presence when he walked in, but James figured that cornering Kendall in the locker room after nearly three years of not speaking wasn't the best plan anyway.

While it may have been the first day of school, the one class that everyone could always count on doing something in, it was P.E., but they were going to be fair and let the kids decide what to play. There was an overwhelming vote for dodge ball. Yeah, this class was definitely flooded with jocks.

James ended up being on the opposite team of Kendall's and his team seemed to have the scrawny ones that looked a little frightened at the prospect of this game. Yet, they soon found that they had a few good players, one of whom being James which they shielded behind while he took out a few of their opponents.

The group of seniors managed to get in a few rounds before one of the teachers told them that they only had time for one last round. Throughout the games, James had noticed how whenever he moved to one end of the court, Kendall would move to the other. It seemed as if his former friend was making a conscious effort to avoid being in his line of sight. Well, the pretty boy was determined to change that this round.

Rather than play shield or protector to his teammates, James allowed them to be picked off while he took out some of the stronger opponents allied with Kendall, trying to narrow it down so that Kendall and himself were some of the last strong competitors. About halfway through the game, James noted that Kendall had figured out his plan, because suddenly, the blonde was doing everything he could to take shots at the pop star from as far away as he could. Several times, Kendall nearly took James out, but he always managed to dodge just at the last second, even doing an impressive back bend in the process.

By the time it came down to it, there were four left on Kendall's side, and three on James'. By no means were they evenly matched as it was just a few of the lucky ones on James' team, which he figured meant he was going to have to dodge balls left and right. But the only one taking shots at him was Kendall; apparently, his teammates had gotten the hint that James was a claimed target.

He managed to take down two of Kendall's teammates while his other two were picked off, and while he still had a chance, James knew the odds weren't in his favor. But there was no way he could get a shot in at either of them. Kendall's teammate, the Dak character that he had walked in with that morning, was fast and occasionally shot a ball towards James, but Kendall was relentlessly grabbing every ball that he could reach and whipping it at James. He was being forced to dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge without rest. And then it happened.

It was probably the hardest throw that Kendall had shot his way, and it nailed James right in the face. Now, anyone could take a face hit in this game, but no one could take a face hit like that and have it not be personal. The blow was so hard that it had, in fact, knocked James back on his ass and filled his mouth with blood, from biting his tongue.

The only things that could be heard were the mixture of panting breathes from those that had tried throughout the games, and the sound of that very last ball bouncing away into a steady roll until it hit the wall. Some of the kids in the class were staring, others were already dissipating back to the locker rooms, but James and Kendall's eyes were locked on each other. James was trying to figure out what the hell had just happened, whereas, Kendall's jade eyes were challenging him to do something about it.

What in the world had happened since he had left?

James thought they were going to be locked in this staring match until the death when Dak clasped Kendall's shoulders to inform him that they needed to go back to the locker room and change. Hesitating in drawing his eyes away from James, who was still on the gym floor, he gave a stiff nod, pushed his sweaty bangs out of his face and turned away from the person he had once called his best friend.

And even though their teacher was telling James that he needed to get up and head back to the locker room himself, all he could do was stare at the place that Kendall had been standing.

James had figured out, all those years ago, on the plane ride to Los Angeles that Kendall wasn't too thrilled with him leaving, but he figured that it would eventually pass, even if he refused to respond to any means of contact from James over those years that he was gone. But this instance here today told James that Kendall wasn't just mad at him. No Kendall hated him, and James just couldn't believe it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Alright, so I want you guys to know that I have a French test, a Bio test, and a Neuro test between Monday and Tuesday, but the love in the reviews I have gotten have made me so excited that I cannot hold back on giving something else to you guys to tide you over for a little while longer. I'm hoping that between both of my stories, I get at least one chapter out a day, but we'll see how my schedule works with that goal.

So, my short thanks here for those of you that reviewed **Love and Heartz** (double thanks for being the first), **carlosgarcia**, **Al Ad Luc Mor**, **Randomness-Is-My-Specialty**, and** tank602**. You guys will ultimately be what will keep me going with these stories. So REVIEW!

Oh, and the beginning of this next part is going to be familiar as I watched the first episode to get some of the lines but obviously things turn out differently than what happened in the show

* * *

**Almost Three Years Ago…**

* * *

"Now, do you wanna be a pop star?"

No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Kendall knew that the moment those words sounded from the speaker on the TV that whatever had James' attention, which was currently deflecting Carlos' attack, would be forgotten and he would become entranced in the words.

"Well today's your chance if you're in…Minnesota. Are you ready?"

Fuck. Kendall looked over towards the pretty boy and noted how serious his face was and the happiness that seemed to light up his eyes at the potential of being discovered. The blonde had known for the longest time that being famous was James' dream, and he, along side of the others in their quartet, all believed that it would happen because not only did James look like he should be famous, but he had a voice. But now? No, not now. This couldn't happen.

But as the announcer on the television continued to spout out information about what was going on and Gustavo Rocque, Kendall could see the excited change in James' face as he declared that he could sing better than a dog. This was his dream. And he knew that if there was something like this pertaining to the Minnesota Wild that James would be doing everything he could to get Kendall there.

So, prompted to stand with his other friends Kendall ordered them to "call all moms now."

It was getting dangerously close to five and it was at least a ten minute drive there. Their phones weren't ringing. And they were only freshman so none of them even had a learner's permit so that they could throw a neighbor into the car and go.

"Kendall!"

The startled boy was shaken from his thoughts at the desperation in James' voice. He looked at his friend, his green eyes wide as if trying to tell him that he was coming up with nothing. But then it hit him.

"I know how we can get there. …But it's not legal."

Five minutes later, the four boys were climbing into the car that was in Kendall's garage. It had been left behind by his dad, who tried to claim that he left the Mustang as a gift for Kendall when he turned sixteen and he got his driver's license. But the blonde now knew better that his dad had been forced to choose between the Mustang or the Camaro because he wasn't coming back once he was gone. It had only taken Kendall a few seconds to find the keys to it and now he was sitting in the driver's seat looking at the gears.

"Kendall, do you even know how to drive a car," Carlos asked from the back seat.

"WHO CARES," James yelled back at him, "as long as he gets me to the audition that's all I need!"

"Guys would you calm down," Kendall said, trying to keep his voice despite the fact that he knew he was about to do something that if he got caught he could get arrested for, or worse, his mom would find out.

He started the car with ease, pressed the button that opened the garage and backed the car out, eliciting a cheer from both James and Carlos.

"I do not feel comfortable committing a crime at this young of an age," Logan said meekly from the back seat, but when he was ignored he grumbled, "I gotta get new friends."

They made it to the audition with five minutes to spare, somewhat to Kendall's dismay, but that didn't stop him from wishing his best friend good luck, after a small pep talk, of course. The other three slipped into the back of the auditorium to watch, knowing that James would of course be stellar. Kendall though, knew of Gustavo Rocque's asshole tendencies and was ready to rip him a new one if need be. But that action wasn't needed.

It all happened so fast, but the next thing Kendall knew he, and Logan and Carlos, were cheering and bounding up onto the stage to attack James, much to the surprise of the record producer and his assistant because they had just told him that he was it. He was what they were looking for. And while he celebrated with a happy James, the only words that echoed in Kendall's head were, "and your flight to L.A. leaves on Sunday."

* * *

**Present…**

* * *

James hissed as he touched the towel to his face that morning after he showered. The product of the dodge ball game was fresh on his face, a nice welt having bubbled up at some point between leaving school and dinner yesterday. James was tempted to cover it with makeup considering how unsightly it was to him, but the second he tried to touch any cover up to it, he winced. The evidence of Kendall's hatred for him was going to be plastered on his face all day.

Of course the other students noticed, especially since the story of gym class the day before had not gone untold by his fellow peers. However, James ignored them as he made his way to his first class of the day, the only one he shared with his former friends, and he thankfully got there early enough to snatch a seat near Logan.

The smart boy looked from the book that he had been reading and raised his eyebrows, "I see Kendall really did nail you pretty well yesterday."

James nodded with a small roll of his eyes. "Yep, I am definitely feeling the love from him."

Noticing how Logan bit his lip and looked down, James could tell that Logan assumed he was going to ask what was going on. But he didn't. The Kendall thing was something that he needed to deal with on his own, and maybe he would get a little more information from his friend about it, but he wasn't going to push. At least not about the Kendall thing, because when Carlos walked into the room, a large, almost evil grin spread over James' face. "Carlos, hey," he called out, waving the Latino boy over.

At first, James wanted to burst out laughing at the look that appeared on his face because it was like a deer in headlights, or like Carlos had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. James could see his eyes flicking from the place he had been in yesterday and to the two of them, not realizing that Logan had buried himself into his book once more, his face as red as a tomato.

Carlos took a step forward, towards James and Logan's direction, but the sudden friendly drape of an arm around his shoulder stopped him. "C'mon Carlos," Kendall said, his eyes not even looking at the shorter boy, but rather glued on James, "come sit with me and Dak." And just like that, Carlos retreated with the blonde who was clearly sending James a smug smirk.

James scoffed and was about to open his mouth but Logan stopped him. "Don't James," he said quietly, almost sounding a bit terrified, "don't push."

Why shouldn't he push? Kendall had blatantly hit him in the face yesterday and today he had pointedly made sure that Carlos didn't go anywhere near him, after not even speaking to him yesterday from what James could see. There was something seriously wrong going on.

But class had now started and so James just settled back in his seat and tried to pay attention to what was being discussed, but this situation with his friends was just far too much of a distraction.

"Okay class, as I told you yesterday, I would randomly be assigning partners today, and so once I call them out, go mingle and talk about which author you want to do. That will have to be decided for tomorrow's class."

Their teacher began to read through a list of names. "Carlos Garcia and Logan Mitchell."

James looked over at Logan who's head he found had immediately dropped, but the bright red flush was staining his ears told him that he was just hiding a face that matched. And when he looked over towards Carlos, he noticed the Latino nervously fidgeting in his seat, also refusing to look over at his partner.

"Jo Taylor and Dak Zevon," the teacher continued to rattle on, "and finally James Diamond and Kendall Knight."

The "WHAT" that resounded from both boys stunned the class and all heads turned towards either boy, both of them staring with wide eyes towards their teacher. Almost simultaneously, James and Kendall scrambled from their seat and rushed to the front of the classroom.

"You cannot be seriously pairing us up," Kendall said, managing to speak first, "I will partner with anyone just please not _him_."

"Me? What's so wrong with being partnered with me? If I recall I'm not the violent one!" For emphasis, James pointed towards his welted cheek as he glared at Kendall who returned the narrowed eyes.

He could see the blonde balling his fists at his side, and even out of the corner of his eye, he could see both Logan and Carlos making their way towards the front of the classroom, along with Kendall's friend Dak and the blonde girl that he had obviously been partnered with.

"I'm sorry," Miss C. said, "but unless another student is willing to switch then you two are stuck with each other."

At this, Kendall immediately turned and as Carlos was the first person within reach he grabbed onto the Latino's shoulders. "Please switch with me Carlos. We can work together or I can work with Logan. I don't care. Just don't make me work with _him_. I will kill him."

James started to scoff at the desperation in his voice but then he noticed the look in Carlos' eyes. He didn't want to switch partners. One flick of his gaze towards Logan told James that and he wondered about that for a second before someone else decided to step in.

"Jeez Kendall if working with him is going to be that much of an issue then I'll do it and you can partner with Dak."

It was Jo Taylor. James didn't remember seeing her yesterday, but then again, he hadn't really been paying much attention to anyone that wasn't Kendall, Logan, or Carlos. For a moment he wondered if this was one of his fan girls and she was seeing it as a chance to work with the international pop star. But that was also a thought that was quickly shot down.

"…Jo…" Kendall mustered, "you don't…"

"Apparently I do," she shot at him, silencing him.

"Then it's settled then," Miss C. said, cutting in before anything else could be said, "Jo and James will partner and you can work with Dak, Kendall."

James looked over at Kendall who seemed to be having a hard time even processing that decision. Why did he care? He got to work with the guy that seemed to be his new best friend and didn't have to deal with being partnered with James.

Meanwhile, Jo was moving over to James holding out her hand. "Hi," she said, giving him a bright smile, "I'm Jo Taylor, and I apologize for my boyfriend's behavior. Sometimes he forgets that he isn't a caveman."

James immediately took her hand, starting to introduce himself, but he stopped halfway through. Wait, boyfriend?

He looked up to see Kendall looking at him, the look on his face a mixture of hatred and smugness. Now he knew why the blonde looked so torn at the partner switch. Even though they were no longer going to work together, James was now paired with Kendall's girlfriend.

"Um….e-excuse me," James said suddenly, his brow furrowed as he dropped the girls hand and headed out of the classroom door, ignoring the teacher's call for him to take a hall pass.

* * *

James wasn't seen again until lunch. He had actually left school grounds, got into his car and drove around town for the two other class periods that he missed. And of course, being high school, and being a high school in a small town, people talked. By the time he returned, nearly everyone had heard about both of the boy's outbursts and of course of James' disappearance. So when he reappeared half way through the lunch period, nearly the entire cafeteria was hushed as he walked over and dropped into the seat across from Logan, who was also staring at him.

"Where the hell have you been James? Miss C. isn't happy. You just left, and obviously you left school. You know you're going to get in trouble for that."

Shaking his head, James dropped his chin into his hand. Like he cared about getting into trouble. The odds were, anyway, that he would be giving a warning for this first time since he could pull the whole  
"I've been home schooled for the past three years," and the fact that he was James Diamond.

Logan continued to rattle off about the numerous rumors that seemed to spout up about his two class period absence but James just tuned him and out and looked towards the lunch table that was occupied by the jocks.

Today, Carlos was seated beside Dak, across from Kendall and Jo was seated beside her…boyfriend. Carlos' kept flicking his eyes over to their table – even after the usual chatter resumed – a worried expression on his face. But he remained seated at the table.

Suddenly, James stood which caused Logan to immediately pester him with what he was about to do because it hadn't gone unnoticed where he had been staring. But once more, the pretty boy ignored him as he walked over to the table and settled himself on the small available space beside Jo. The entire table stopped mid conversation to look at him.

"Hey," he said addressing the blonde girl, "I'm sorry about class earlier. It's been an overwhelming first couple of days back. I'm James Diamond."

This time, he held out his hand to her with a dazzling smile in which Jo gave him a weary look before complying and taking his hand for a second time that day. "It's nice to meet you," she replied, "and I could imagine it is. I mean when was the last time you were in a public school; kindergarten?"

That was something that a lot of people suspected about James when he became known, was that he hadn't had a normal life before his discovery, no matter how many times he tried to tell them differently. But still, he was a nice guy.

Giving Jo a small chuckle he dropped her hand, "no, actually, freshman year. I actually went here."

The surprise on Jo's face was noticeable, "oh, I just thought that was some silly rumor that the girls in this school liked to claim. 'Oh, the hunky teen heartthrob James Diamond used to go here.'" Her voice had raised an octave and she fluttered her eyelashes dramatically. "I didn't start here until sophomore year," Jo finished as an explanation as to why she thought that.

James was about to respond when he saw a lanky arm snake around her waist and draw the girl farther from him. A small smirk twitched at the corner of his lips, but he remained silent about the possessive action. "Well," he said, still addressing Jo, "they were not just silly rumors, although I have no doubt that that is exactly how they told you that fact. But anyway, I came over here to talk to you about our project for Senior Sem. Since I was so wonderful this morning in walking out, we didn't get to actually talk about what we were going to do for the project. And I know we don't have much time now, but since I don't know whether I'll see you before the day is over again, I was wondering if I could get your phone number so we could –"

"Jo, babe, could you go get me a bottle of water," Kendall said suddenly, interrupting James.

Both of them looked over at him with Jo being the first one to speak. "First off, you have legs, use them. I'm having a conversation. Second off, babe? You know I hate pet names Kendall."

James couldn't suppress the look of glee on his face as Kendall looked down sheepishly. It was nice to see someone put him in his place. Plus, it was awfully rude of him to interrupt their conversation. Even if the entire reason for James coming over to the table was to get some sort of reaction out of Kendall. And just to goad him further, James decided to chime in on the conversation.

"Yeah Kendall get your own water," he said, trying to keep his voice light as if he were teasing him rather than provoking him.

The look that he was given by the blonde probably would have killed him if it could. Jo, however, had sensed that James was not doing it out of good humor and sighed. "Actually Kendall, I will go get you that water, and James I'll give you my number when I get back."

In an instant she was gone and Kendall and James were left staring at each other, or glaring in Kendall's case. And that was when James finally decided he couldn't take it anymore. "What is your problem Kendall?"

Kendall's mouth formed a hard line and once more that day his fists tightened into balls but rather than say anything, he promptly stood from the lunch table and headed in the direction that Jo had gone. But James wasn't going to take him ignoring him anymore. So he stood and followed him.

"Kendall, I was talking to you," he shot towards his back, grabbing onto his shoulder to force him to face him.

And face him Kendall did, but the fists that he had been forming earlier were finally put into use and he clocked James right in the welt he had left the day before. For a moment, James keeled over from the blow, feeling the tears stinging at the corners of his eyes from the pain, but rather than just leave it like he did the day before, he straightened and lunged at Kendall taking the blonde down to the cafeteria floor.

Instantly, as is usually the case with fights in high school, people shot up from their seats and crowded around them, jostling them to continue. Both of them took their swings, each of them dominating at one point or another until a pair of arms were wrapping around his waist and pulling him back. James could see that the same was happening to Kendall.

Dak was the one pulling the blonde back and away from him, and he figured out that it was Carlos who had also helped to break up the fight. Both of the boys though were struggling to once more claw at each other's throats. But as all good high school fights must end, a teacher managed to break through the crowd.

He looked from one panting boy to the other, realizing which ones were bruised, or in Kendall's case, bloodied – James had gotten a good shot in to his lip which was now busted – and shook his head. "Zevon, Garcia," he said, his voice hard, "get these two knuckleheads down to the nurse's office. And the two of you," he continued, motioning at Kendall and James, "have detention after school."

* * *

**Author's Ending Notes:** So, I apologize for the clichéd idea of forcing Kendall and James to be partners, but I needed something that would cause an initial reason for them to actually interact and speak that would force them to be around each other. If you saw that coming, well, I'm sorry. I promise I have a few more surprises in store for you later. But I also think that switching things up a little with that so they didn't actually end up being each other's partners was not something that people expected.

I've also decided that the way this story is going to work is that it is mostly going to be from James' POV, but there will always be a chunk at the beginning from the past that will be Kendall's POV.

And I don't understand how I managed not to bash Jo. Generally, I hate her, but I didn't want her to be the bad guy in this story, at least not yet. Kendall is doing that enough.

Now, click that review button. It's right down there.


End file.
